Wow, SO MANY awesome mug rugs filling up our gallery. I love all the additions... I've been so busy trying to keep track of who's sent, who's received, giving feedback, etc., I haven't done a very good job of keeping up and commenting on all the amazingness I feel like there have been so many exceptional mug rugs posted in this swap, it's pretty intense !!!

Prepare to appreciate more Mug Ruggery Fun! I received from Renstar for my Halloween theme.

A super cute mug rug and two fabric ornaments!

I love how the flames are embroidered

And I especially love the accent fabric / the fabric on the back - it's the Wicked Witch of the West (I'll get you, my pretty)!!!!

First post, first post! I received three gorgeous patches from SheridanLA yesterday evening - all in line with my nature themes!!! Unfortunately I could only grab a few quick pics on my phone on the way out the door this morning; I'm afraid they don't convey how detailed and gorgeous these patches are.

Here's a pic of all three together - My Birds, Trees, and Stars themes

The tree has tiny beads for depth, and beautiful tufted stitching all around

Look at this adorable birdie - love the added beading on all of these , and esp. the colorful birdie tail!!

There are 3-d stars and a little star-patterned button on this gorgeous purple universe patch

Thank you so much, SheridanLA - these are GORGEOUS patches and I love each one of them so much!!

I really needed a smile today after having to say goodbye to my old girl Gracie (mini schnauzer) yesterday. I received my package from gotgrey, which definitely put a smile on my face - AND she really spoiled me!

Here is a pic of everything together:

First up, a really cool Halloween shrine montage:There is a witch with 3-d broom, a cat, a bat, and a vintage-y moon in the background smiling over them all I love the details on everything; his face made me smile!

A wreath that also displays gotrey's mad drawing skills with an *ahem* anatomically correct bat

And the piece de resistance, a witchy doll!I love her sweet face, and the fact that her hat band matches her dress...

And her adorable socks and shoes!!!

On top of all that, there were three pose-able skeletons (I had fun arranging them arm-in-arm), an oven mitt, and two wind spinners which will be great for my front porch!

Thank you so much, gotgrey, you really brought a smile to my face when it was most needed!

P_E_S_T that sounds AWESOME! What a great thing for you and your family. Definitely would love to see some pics and hear about it when you return!!

In my ho-hum boring old life I went fabric shopping today... Which is sort of like an expedition, avoiding all the crazed Saturday shoppers and listening to the wails of little ones across the store. I found some awesome fabrics for LadybugsAndBumblebees"stocking" (not a stocking, as per her request... why didn't I think of that? ).

I originally wanted to do a standing 'taxidermy' crane, so I made the shape for a full body with legs:

I wanted the legs to be crane-like, so I cut them in half, taped, and paper mached them as well:

He went in the oven to hurry the drying process - that seemed to take forever!

I tried him in the base and... he stood!!! (YAAAAY!)

But... not for long... (Boooo...)

So I had to switch directions and make him a mounted head instead. I frayed up some fabric for 'feathers' My fingertips were numb, but I had to keep going, it was looking pretty good!

I thought he was about done, so I took some glamour shots

But then I realized that he needed some work around the bill (where the fabric attached) and some crown feathers, to match the inspiration pics I'd been looking at. So a bit more mache-ing (pieces of tissue paper painted onto the seam of the bill & the fabric), painting, fraying, sewing, and gluing, and he was ready to go.

It's here, it's here (she's here? he's here?)!! I suppose we'll deem her a 'she' for the time being, since s/he arrived wearing a necklace... But I feel that s/he may be a bit like Eddie Izzard and dress in whatever way suits their mood!

Allow me to present Faustine (or Festus, when s/he's in boy mode)

Here's a nice profile view

S/he'd come loose from the mount, so maybe the mount goes like this?

I have a solution in mind for that (based on my own challenges with doing the same thing!), so I should have it fixed up and ready to show off in no time